As a strong and loyal supporter of Joe Biden for many years, it is a sad moment that now this blogger and author strongly believes that Biden must step aside and endorse Kamala Harris as his successor.
Biden should finish his term, but give all his efforts to the promotion of Harris to be the 47th President of the United States.
Harris has been a loyal and dedicated Vice President, and the criticisms of her are primarily racist, sexist, and misogynistic, as she is, clearly, perfectly qualified to be the next President of the United States.
The latest public opinion polls demonstrate that Biden is behind Donald Trump in every “swing state”, as well as in trouble in states that should not be in play, including Virginia, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Colorado, and Minnesota, and the Second District in Nebraska.
The thought of Donald Trump and JD Vance as the next President and Vice President is horrifying, but it could be even worse with the Democrats losing the US Senate and failing to regain the House of Representatives majority, which otherwise seemed likely.
No one man can be seen to be allowed to use his ego over the needs of his nation, his party, and all of the American people.
So by Sunday night, Biden needs to address the nation and announce his withdrawal, and endorsement of Kamala Harris.
It is only a bit more than 100 days to the election, and six months to the inauguration, and the nation needs to see a unified Democratic Party fighting for a decent future, and preventing an extremist right wing government under Trump, and long term, the much more dangerous JD Vance!
Kamala Harris is having a conference call with some donors today at 3 pm.
MSNBC was saying a few minutes ago that her campaign events are having sell out crowds.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., has issued a dire warning to her party about the chaos that could ensue if they succeed in pushing President Joe Biden off the ticket.
https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/reidout-blog/aoc-biden-nomination-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-rcna162761
Women in Florida are gravitating towards Biden.
https://www.alternet.org/women-voters-biden/
AOC is right!
While I certainly would wholeheartedly support Vice President Harris if Biden decided to stop his campaign, I think it’s nuts to make a change this late in the process from a purely logistical standpoint.
On top of that, the push to make a change is disingenuously premised on “bad polls”—many of which are Republican-oriented—based on reaching the tiny fraction of odd people who answer random calls from strange numbers on their phones.
But at bottom this movement to dump Biden is based on two things: wealthy white people who are angry that Biden will increase their taxes, and their dislike of Harris.
I think that AOC and others who are still backing Biden tend to be in safe districts. The ones calling for Biden to drop out are in purple and red districts and/or states. For instance, the latest vulnerable Democrats to call on Biden to quit the race are Jon Tester and Sherrod Brown, both in red states.
Rep. Betty McCollum, a Minnesota Democrat, has suggested for Harris to be the nominee and for Harris to choose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate.
AOC’s comments are why I keep going back and forth on the issue myself.
I’m dead set against James Carville’s idiotic idea of a mini primary.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, from California, is suggesting that stupid idea as well.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4782835-senior-democrat-zoe-lofgren-joe-biden-barack-obama-bill-clinton-mini-primary/
WTF?! Trump had a phone call with Ukraine’s Zelenskiy
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-07-19/trump-has-very-good-phone-call-with-ukraine-s-zelenskiy
Sheila Jackson Lee has passed away. RIP
https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/19/politics/sheila-jackson-lee-texas-dies/
Trump calls for UAW leader to be “fired immediately”
https://www.axios.com/2024/07/19/trump-uaw-president-shawn-fain-fire
Plans Are Afoot In Trumpland To Call The Election A Win, No Matter What
Republicans are already gaming the certification process in advance of the 2024 election.
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a61650532/trump-2024-election-certification/
I agree with this. I feel this whole matter is undemocratic.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/7/20/2256009/-I-voted-for-Joe-Biden-to-be-our-nominee-I-did-not-vote-for-delegates-to-pick-the-nominee-for-me
George Conway launches ‘Anti-Psychopath PAC’ focusing on Trump’s mental health
https://www.alternet.org/george-conway-super-pac/
I feel the same way, Leia.
Bill and Hillary Clinton are privately supporting President Joe Biden and have encouraged donors to continue backing the president.
https://www.msnbc.com/weekends-with-alex-witt/watch/clintons-privately-support-biden-decision-to-stay-in-race-215323205714
Elizabeth Warren supports Harris if Biden decides to quit the race.
https://www.msnbc.com/the-weekend/watch/sen-elizabeth-warren-biden-is-our-nominee-harris-ready-to-serve-215321157599
Where were these people coming out against Biden 6 months ago? The primary would have been a better time to do this.
Joe Manchin is the latest to call for Biden to drop out.
Undecided swing-state voters still hate Donald Trump, but they have preferences regarding who is on the Democratic side of the race, according to a series of focus groups summarized by a conservative pollster.
GOP strategist and publisher of The Bulwark Sarah Longwell, who previously showed how Trump’s rise wasn’t due to the will of voters, posted her findings to social media Saturday. In doing so, Longwell said, “I’ve conducted 14 focus groups since the debate,” and outlined “some top lines from the swing voter groups.”
Her first finding was that “almost ALL want Biden to step aside.”
“They don’t think he can do the job for four more years,” the pollster said. “They have a negative impression of Kamala Harris, but it’s an impression, not locked in. Mainly don’t know what she does.”
She then added that “The preferences for an alternative are all over the map.”
“But Whitmer/Shapiro/Newsom are the top picks. Basically they just want someone younger,” she said. “We’re talking to a lot of swing state voters, so there are a disproportionate number of PA/MI voters in the groups, so less surprising to hear Whitmer and Shapiro from those folks.”
Longwell went on to say that the participants “mostly still HATE Trump.”
“They don’t want to vote for him (though some will). But they don’t feel like it’s responsible to vote for Biden in his diminished state,” she said. “They are despondent over these choices. Many talking about leaving the top of the ticket blank.”
She continued:
“They were shocked by Biden’s performance at the debate, despite already thinking he was too old for the job. The word ‘frail’ is used often. Many talk about their own parents and grandparents stubbornly clinging to the car keys. They think it’s insane he’s running again.”
Longwell also described the results of three groups of Black Dems, saying “they were much more inclined toward Biden staying.”
“They worried it was too late to make a change. However, they were also incredibly pragmatic,” she said. “They have one goal and one goal only, beating Trump. Whoever could do that they were for.”
Finally, Longwell concluded that “the most alarming groups for Dems are the ones we’ve done with Clinton/Biden voters—regular Dem voters who are now undecided.”
“Those groups also wanted Biden to step aside, and several people were third-party curious or talking about leaving by the top of the ticket blank,” Longwell wrote in her weekend post.
https://www.alternet.org/pollster-trump/
Pelosi Delivers Speech To N.C. Democrats With Notable Absence — Biden’s Future As Nominee
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/election-2024-north-carolina-democrats-nancy-pelosi_n_669c8379e4b050b0f3f6bd7f
New reports are providing insight into Biden’s state of mind as he recovers from COVID-19 at his Rehoboth Beach home in Delaware.
According to The New York Times, Biden resents what he sees as an orchestrated effort to push him off the ticket, and is irritated that once-close allies like former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former President Barack Obama have not aided him in recent days. Biden reportedly sees Pelosi as the “main instigator,” per the Times.
CBS News reporter Robert Costa said on social media that he had heard very similar sentiments from unnamed sources close to the president.
NBC News reported earlier this week that Biden has been feeling personally hurt by the party turmoil, even though many of the people calling on him to step aside have simultaneously praised his lifetime of public service and his policy record.
Digby’s blog says says the Democrats are actually coming to a consensus that Kamala Harris has to be the nominee if Biden steps aside.
https://digbysblog.net/2024/07/20/the-consensus-gels/
Pragmatic –
I’m also suspicious that it’s more than just “Biden’s too old”. Joe Manchin is the perfect example of this. He hasn’t particularly liked some of Biden’s policies, claiming they are too far left.